Ravenstadt

City in Ione

Ravenstadt resides in the centre of the Wol province and connects the majority of the province to the nationa capital city of Fortuna and can be considered the primary transit hub of the nation directly connecting to five other major towns or cities. In line with transportation Ravenstadt also supports a number of smaller farming villages, which use Ravenstadt as the core of their distribution system which mirrors the operation of Kronbruck in the northen province of Ghia.

Demographics

Ravenstadt has a recorded population of 1,478 individuals all of which are human making it one of the largest settlements outside of the capital cities. Following the direction of the Alarch, only the human population of the city is recorded so it is likely that the population may be slightly higher than reported.

Government

Ravenstadt is governed by theocratic rule similar to all settlements within Ione and the municipal government is controlled by an Eparch who is appointed through Cionecic's Divine Selection. The Eparch reports to the provincial representative, the Exarch, who resides in Ornamen as it is the provincial capital of Wol.

Industry & Trade

Ravenstadt is one of Ione's primary farming settlements that feeds the majority of southern Ione and produces large quantities of grains, fruits and vegetables, but also produces a small amount of dyes and fibre plants used in the assembly of cloth or tools. Much of these plants are farmed throughout the adjacent hamlets and stored in communal storage areas within Ravenstadt before being transported to it's final destination, either one of the other settlements or traded out to visitors arriving in Ornamen.

History

Ravenstadt was originally founded in 392 shortly after The Fortenes had made the transition into Ione. Ione was looking to try and inhabit the entirety of their holy land and made the attempt to expand south to do so. However Vane, Ione's eastern most settlement was raided in 439 prompting the creation of the Clandestine Growth Directive the following year. As Ravenstadt was still small and seen as being founded in a place that could direct further attention to Ione, the settlement was razed to the ground after moving the population back into Fortuna and other settlements along the Sanctum Forest clearing. After the Clandestine Growth Directive was lifted in 880 and a number of settlements were founded in quick succession, the demand for food was likely to increase and Ravenstadt was rebuilt to take advantage of the fertile land and central location, south of Fortuna. As Ione grew and additional administration was added in the form of the provinces, Ravenstadt became more of a transit hub as more of the land became used for housing the increasing population and farming responsibilities shifted to the nearby hamlets. Ravenstadt is thought to be the site of one of the major battles of Irios during the Time of Trials, potentially the engagement that drove the original settlers of Ione into the forest or the loss that drove Cionecic into hiding. When marble was discvovered in Arnsrath Alarch Baldred Strathtun commissioned a large monument to be made for the town square. Named Raven’s Fel the sculpture depicts the unparalleled suffering that was experienced throughout the entirety of the Time of Trials, the fall of Cionecic, and the razing of Ravenstadt. Like other settlements Ravenstadt was eventually overhauled with marble construction and the signature Ionean gothic features were included.

Points of interest

[Ravens Fel] - Raven's Fel is a dual purpose monument to commemorate the location of Cionecic's fall and retreat into Sanctum Forest, but also the razing of Ravenstadt shortly after the implementation of the Clandestine Growth Directive.

Architecture

The original wooden structures that made originally made up Ravenstadt were all destroyed during the razing of Ravenstadt, and the settlement was essentially rebuilt from the ground up using stone, shortly after the founding Ornamen in 942. Due to the timing of the rebuild, the stone structures that made up the majority of the settlement had the early gothic features first implemented in Principa and Ornamen. After the discovery of marble in Arnsrath the settlement centre would eventually be overhauled to use the material and include the more matured style that had evolved since the stone rebuild. Moving further from the city centre and public spaces into residential areas results in much simpler architecture, though still finely crafted from marble and many of the farm houses and distant storage spaces are still made of more basic stonework.